It has been a busy summer for me leading a trail crew on the Salmon-Challis National Forest, but it has been one of the best in my life. We have done a bunch of cool projects and recently built a 50 ft turnpike with a 5 ft bridge over a stream. That project took the crew about 4 days to finish and by the end, we were pros at making saddle notches with the limited tools we carried (we didnt even have a chisel). Its quite amazing when looking at the pictures of our trail work.







For our last two work hitches, we will be building some rustic stringer bridges. It’s a lot of work, but it is extremely rewarding to see the finished project on something so complex. One of the bridges we will be building is on Kane Creek Trail, where a bike rider broke his leg trying to cross an old, blown out bridge. The other will be on Summit Creek Trail over a large see in a hillside; although, there is still a chance we might just build a log retaining wall instead.

When we havent been working the crew is often out climbing some spectacular mountains in the area. I have spent much of my off-time enjoying the peace and quiet of living an hour from any type of town. We did go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for one break; however, I much prefer the solitude of Idaho mountains.

Only one more month before I head south to do trail work on the Florida Trail for the fall and winter!